This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
Interactive chart Poles spend 1.5 years less in employment than the average EU citizen, according to new Eurostat data. In 2025, the average length of working life in Poland stood at 35.9 years, compared with 37.4 years across the European Union as a whole.
Women typically have shorter working lives than men. In Poland, the gap is four years. The average working life of Polish men is 37.9 years, while for women it is 33.9 years. This difference is broadly in line with the EU average of 4.1 years.
Poland’s much larger gap in statutory retirement age between men and women does not, paradoxically, translate into a significantly wider gender gap in the length of working life compared with other EU countries. This is largely due to the relatively high employment rate among women in Poland. In the 20–64 age group, 73% of Polish women were employed, compared with 71% across the EU.
The North–South divide
The longest working lives are found in Northern Europe. In the Netherlands, the average working life spans 44 years, followed by Sweden at 43.4 years and Denmark at 42.6 years. Even among Central and Eastern European countries, the leader is the one located furthest north: Estonia, with an average working life of 41.5 years.
Interactive chart At the opposite end of the spectrum are countries in Southern Europe. If Turkey is included in this group, it has the shortest working life in the ranking, at 30.4 years. Among Central and Eastern European countries, the “leaders” are once again those located furthest south: Bulgaria (34.6 years), Romania (32.7 years), and Croatia (35.1 years). The same pattern is visible in Italy (33 years) and Greece (35.3 years).
The chart above illustrates this relationship based on the average geographical latitude of each country.
The male–female divide
The chart below shows the length of working life broken down by men and women. Overall, there is less variation between countries when it comes to men’s working lives. The differences are far more pronounced among women.
Interactive chart Turkish women spend only half as many years in employment (20.7 years) as Swedish or Dutch women (around 42 years). Within the EU, the particularly short working lives of Italian and Romanian women stand out, both averaging less than 30 years. Women in these countries work 7–9 years less than men. In Turkey, the gap is even more striking, at nearly 20 years.
The Baltic states are the only countries where women’s working lives are slightly longer than men’s, by around one year. Poland, as noted above, is neither an outlier on the positive nor the negative side of the EU average.
The double divide
The two divides described above overlap. The North–South divide is associated with longer working lives overall, as well as with longer working lives among women specifically. The latter relationship is shown below.
Interactive chart This correlation is statistically significant at the 1% level, even when Turkey is excluded as an outlier. In other words, there is a 99% probability that this relationship is not the result of chance.
A positive relationship between average latitude and working life can also be observed among men. However, the correlation is not statistically significant.
Shallow and deep determinants
The relationship between the length of working life and the North–South divide is therefore driven largely by differences among women. What might explain this pattern? Several factors can be identified as supporting women’s participation in the labor market in the North: better access to childcare, less traditional gender roles, a greater prevalence of part-time work, family policies that encourage employment, and higher retirement ages.
All of this is true, but I would describe these as “shallow” determinants. To understand why these labor market institutions evolved in one direction rather than another, we need to look deeper — at geographical, historical, and cultural factors.
These include, for example, the role of Protestant ethics in promoting women’s independence, the historically later emergence of certain marriage patterns in northwestern Europe, earlier industrialization, and even different climatic conditions.
Indicator methodology
In the simplest terms, Eurostat’s expected duration of working life indicator answers the question: “How many years would a person be expected to work on average if they experienced throughout their lifetime the same employment rates as people in each age group in a given year?”
It is therefore not the number of years actually worked by a specific generation, but rather a hypothetical measure calculated in a similar way to life expectancy. The calculations are based on life tables and labor force participation rates.
Because the indicator is an average calculated for all adult residents of a country, it is significantly influenced by the number of people who remain outside the labor force. In other words, it does not show how many years people who are economically active actually spend working.
For example, the overall figure of 35.9 years for Poland should be interpreted as follows: under current employment rates, the average expected working life of a 15-year-old Pole would be 35.9 years.